105 Hridi Research
-
Upload
nejhu-jaman -
Category
Documents
-
view
213 -
download
0
Transcript of 105 Hridi Research
-
7/29/2019 105 Hridi Research
1/17
Family and Societal Influences on Decision Making 1
RESEARCH PAPER
FAMILY AND SOCIETAL INFLUENCES ON DECISION MAKING
Hridi Meskat Zakaria
Id# 071445030
Eng 105. Sec- 8
Maleka Sarwar
December 22, 2010
-
7/29/2019 105 Hridi Research
2/17
Family and Societal Influences on Decision Making 2
ABSTRACT
In Bangladesh, family and societal influences is a major issue. Though we like it or not, it is
always present to make us feel its existence. From choosing study area to marriage, an individual
has to go through many influences in his/her whole life. On the pas days, nobody even think of
disobeying what their family and society tells them to do. But the situation has changed now.
Many people are trying to change the trend now days. There are many people who think family
and society should not influence in every matter because end of the day, it is their life. And the
altered situation can be seen in this research paper. Most of the people our society now think that
family and societal influences are not stronger like before. They are not stronger than our own
choices. But then again, a portion still think influences are stronger than our own choices. This
proves that we have not overcome this issue totally. Still these influences are present in our
society which can be harmful to an individuals life sometimes.
-
7/29/2019 105 Hridi Research
3/17
Family and Societal Influences on Decision Making 3
INTRODUCTION
When we came to this world, we did not know how to decide on our own. But gradually
every person learns to decide things. When we start to grow up, we start to take decisions and
these continue till the end of our life. Though it seems like the decisions of our lives are taken by
us individually; the scenario is not like this always. Most of the time, most of our decisions are
influenced by our families or sometimes by the society. Every individual has the right to take
his/her decisions, but most of the time family and societal influences dont allow them to do so.
Decision making is necessary in every sphere of our life. May be its deciding about our
education, career, life partner or something else; we have to take many decisions all through our
lives. Generally, it seems natural that every individual is taking his decision by himself as it is
related to his own life. But in our society things are not like this most of the time. In our society,
it is recognized as good manner if someone completely agrees with each and every decision of
his family. If he disagrees with that, it will be considered as a negative attitude. People are
habituated to think in this way in our society. Not only family, theres another thing which
influence our decision more than anything and that is the society.
People in our society is so familiarized with these influences that sometimes they dont even
feel the necessity of going against it. But later on, these influences can create negative results in
someones life. And when those happen, society doesnt come to rescue that person. It has to be
carried by the person himself. Like this, decisions forced by family can also be wrong. There are
some effects of these influences of family and society. My research will discuss the effects of
these influences and general peoples perception about this. Most of the articles about this topic
-
7/29/2019 105 Hridi Research
4/17
Family and Societal Influences on Decision Making 4
have mentioned that family and societal influences are massive in our country but my research
will emphasize the current situation. Do people still get influenced by others or they want to
make their decisions by themselves now days? The answer of this question will be the main
focus of my research.
BACKGROUND
Family and societal influences have been always a common issue in our country. It may be
direct or indirect but its always there to make us feel its existence. Many times we have to
decide things considering others perception. Years after years, we are habituated by this.
Though some issues are changing now days but still there are some which remain same.
The secondary sources I have used are written or published in between of 2001-2010. Most of
them tell that family and societal influences hold a strong position in peoples lives. But when I
divided the decisions into certain segments, I found different scenarios in some issues. My
segments were decision making in case of education, career and marriage. In case of education,
most of the people are influenced by their parents or other family members. In case of marriage
there was a 50-50 percentage. But when its about career, most of them said that they chose their
career by themselves. So in this case, influence was not that strong. So I dont agree with all the
findings in the secondary sources as my findings were different sometimes. I am going to explain
more in my research paper about these issues.
-
7/29/2019 105 Hridi Research
5/17
Family and Societal Influences on Decision Making 5
HYPOTHESIS
Research Questions:
Are the decisions we take all through our lives always our own decision? How much influence can be exerted by our family in case of decision making? What is the amount of societal influence? In case of choosing our career, who mostly takes the decision? We ourselves or our
family?
Other important decisions of our life like choosing our life partner or choosing studyarea- who is the decision maker in reality?
What are the immediate effects of these influences? What are the future effects?
HYPOTHESIS
We have to take many decisions all through our lives. When we start to grow up, we start to
take decisions and these continue till the end of our life. All though we should take the decisions
by ourselves, it is not possible most of the time. There is always an influence. It may be a family
influence or a societal influence. But most of the time these things influence us while taking a
decision.
Family is a great influencer in case of our decision making. And we become used to this rule
that our family can take decisions on our behalf. This happens almost in every stage of our life.
-
7/29/2019 105 Hridi Research
6/17
Family and Societal Influences on Decision Making 6
From choosing our study area to choosing our life partner- most of the time the family is a huge
influencer.
Societal influences are also an important matter. Many times we have to change our decisions
for societal pressures. Many times we like to do something but we cannot, just because we have
to consider social rules and norms- even if we dont think it is right.
While choosing our career, most of the time there is a conflict created between parents and
children. This is a common scenario in our country. The parents want their child to become
something they want, and the child wants to become something else. So in case of career
choices, family creates influences.
In our country, most of the time we have to choose our life partner with the permission of our
parents and family members. Though the situation is changing now days but even if we choose
our life partner by ourselves, we need our parents to like that person whom I like. If they dont
like him/her, a big family issue is created that time. Like this, while choosing our study area, we
have to take permission of our parents. There is also an influence in this regard.
The effects of these influences are not good most of the time. The immediate and future both
effects are harmful for us in most cases. So in our country, family and societal influences are
huge in case of decision making- even though the decisions are related to different individuals
personal life.
-
7/29/2019 105 Hridi Research
7/17
Family and Societal Influences on Decision Making 7
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In order to gather relevant information both the primary and secondary data have been used.
The methodology used to gather primary data for the research were a survey and three
interviews. Different articles, journals, books and websites have used as secondary source of
information.
A survey questionnaire was prepared which has 15 questions. The survey was mainly done in
Dhaka city among those people who are between 20 to 30 years. It was surveyed among 30
respondents.
Three interviews were also conducted to have a good and clear idea about the topic. The
interviewees were Syeda Umma Muslamath, Asst. Professor of Psychology, Siddheswari
University College; Kazi Saiful Hoque, senior Executive Vice President, Premier Bank and
Ahmer Sarwar, a student of Brac University.
Secondary information was mainly collected from different articles, journals, books and
websites. These sources have served as major source of information as much relevant
information regarding the topic.
-
7/29/2019 105 Hridi Research
8/17
Family and Societal Influences on Decision Making 8
SURVEY RESULT AND ANALYSIS
The results that are presented and analyzed below are mainly base on the survey that has been
conducted on 30 respondents and the age group was 20-30.
Question Regarding Career:
The bar graph above shows comparison among different answers of a question regarding
careers decision.
As we can see in the graph, there are four options. While choosing their career, whose
decision people usually prefer- this was the question to general people. 50% of them said, they
chose it by themselves, no preferences was there. They chose it because they liked it. 35% of the
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Parents Friends I just chose the
popular one
No one. I liked it
While choosing your career, whosedecision you preferred?
-
7/29/2019 105 Hridi Research
9/17
Family and Societal Influences on Decision Making 9
people said, they preferred their parents decision. 15% said, they just chose the popular one
which actually identifies the society. On the other hand, no one said they preferred their friends
decision. By these percentages, we can compare peoples perception.
In our country, family and society are great influencer in case of decision making in our life.
These decisions include decisions regarding education, marriage, education etc. But this graph
shows that now days people are preferring their own choice while choosing their career. As we
can see, half of the people said, they chose it as they liked it. On the other hand, among the other
half, most of the people said they preferred their parents decision. It means family influences are
still there. A small portion said they choose the popular one. This again proves social influences.
We also saw that no one said they preferred their friends decision. That means they dont think
this important decision can be taken by their friends. Overall this graph shows that people are
becoming more serious about their career now days. So most of them want to get rid of any
influence and like to take this decision by themselves. Though there are still some influences, but
the majority wants to choose their career by their own.
-
7/29/2019 105 Hridi Research
10/17
Family and Societal Influences on Decision Making 10
Question Regarding Marriage:
The pie chart shows peoples perception about choosing their life partner.
Here, the question was is it okay with them if their parents or family members choose their
life partner for them? 50% of the people said Yes and other 50% said No. so the percentage
is equally distributed among general people.
Choosing life partner is one of the important decisions in our lives. Both family and societal
influences are huge in this issue. But as we can see in the chart, people chose both answers
equally. Half of them think their family can choose their life partner. The other halves think that
they need to select that person by themselves. There was a time in our country, when most of the
people thought it is natural that family members will settle their marriages. If someone chose
Do you think its okay if family
members choose our life partner for
us?
Yes
No
-
7/29/2019 105 Hridi Research
11/17
Family and Societal Influences on Decision Making 11
his/her life partner, it was considered as a negative attitude that time. But now days things are
changing. Half of the people think that family members should not choose our life partners. But
there are still some influences. That is why, half of them still think family members can choose
that person for us.
Question Regarding Strength of Family and Societal Influences:
The pie chart shows peoples perception about family and societal influences in case of
decision making.
25%
5%
40%
15%
15%
In case of decision making, do you think
family and societal influence is strongerthan our own choice?
Yes
No
Not always
Most of the time
It depends
-
7/29/2019 105 Hridi Research
12/17
Family and Societal Influences on Decision Making 12
The question to general people was, in case of decision making, do they think family and
societal influence is stronger than their own choices? 40% of people said Not always. 25% of
them said Yes. 15% said Most of the time and It depends. Only 5% said No.
Family and societal influences used to be stronger than our own choices in the past. Specially
in our country, family and society are great influencers. But as we can see in the graph, situations
are changing now days. Peoples perceptions are also changing. The research was applied on
people aged 20-30. So the new generation is not influenced by family or society always. We saw
that most of the people said that family and societal influence is not stronger than our own
choice. That means they are not influences by others in all cases like before. But there is still a
portion, who think family and societal influence is still stronger than our own choice. Some think
most of the time it is stronger. And some of them answered that it depends. A small number of
people said the influence is not stronger than their own choice. So there are few people who
think their own decision is stronger than family and societal influences. This replicts that family
and societal influences are still somewhat stronger than our own choice.
Question Regarding Preferences of General People:
When the respondents were asked that while taking a decision, what do they prefer? 50% of
them said they prefer asking family members. 30% said they decide it by themselves. And other
said they prefer asking friends or random people around them. This shows the existence of
family influences and also the changing attitude of some people in the society.
-
7/29/2019 105 Hridi Research
13/17
Family and Societal Influences on Decision Making 13
Question Regarding Choosing Study Area:
The question was who chose your undergraduate major for you? 50% of people replied,
Parents. And 30% said they chose it by themselves. Other said, Brothers/sisters and Other
family members. This clearly indicates family influences in choosing the study area of a
student. At this age, family influence is great on a person.
Question Regarding Acceptance of Family Influences:
The question was- do you think it is okay if parents take the decision for us? Most of them
said Sometimes. Other said Yes. Some people also said No. So there are different answers
in this matter. We can see some people are accepting the influence and some are denying it.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
Influences are always present in our society. And it was so massive all through the past years.
All the article, journals, books are also saying that there are family and societal influences in
decision making. But after my research, I found that in some cases, this influences are reducing.
The new generation doesnt want to get influenced in every matter regarding their own life.
The immense change was found in case of decision regarding peoples career. Most of the
people are now choosing their career by their own and dont want to listen to others about this.
They think career is an important factor and by that time they are mature enough to decide what
should be their career. So family and societal influences are diminishing in this segment.
-
7/29/2019 105 Hridi Research
14/17
Family and Societal Influences on Decision Making 14
There was a time when this sounds normal if our family find the right person for us. But this
has changed also. Now half of them think no one can choose their life partner except themselves.
While taking a interview of an university student Ahmer, this question was been asked that why
he dont think his family can choose someone for him? But he says, marriage is all about
understanding. And leaving this in familys hand is just taking a chance. It might or might not
work. And he does not want to take the chance in his life. On the other hand, while the same
question was asked to a parent, Mr. Saiful Hoque, the answer was not that much different. He
said he would be happy if his son and daughter marry someone of his choice but after all it is
their life. And he will not pressurize them in this matter. So we can see the change in the society.
Now it is considered as a normal thing if we choose our life partner by ourselves. But still there
are 50% who thinks parents can choose that person for them. So the scenario has not changed
totally, it just started to change.
The effects of these influences are like tiny piece of stone that hurt slightly on our feet when
we walk on a sea beach bare foot. It always disturbs a person mentally. If someone has to do
something that he did not want to do, it will not make him happy in any way. And if it brings any
bad for him, he will be more upset than he would be if he had taken the decision by himself. An
interviewee of my research, Mrs. Muslamath, who is a professor of Psychology, said that the
effects of these influences are mostly mental disturbance and depression. Many times children
dont want to do something that parents want them to do but they have to do it. It creates
pressure in their mind which is not good for them. There are many parents who think whatever
they feel is good for their, is good. They dont want to consider their childrens choice. This is
not good for both the parents and their children. It not only creates mental pressure for the child,
also harm the relation between parents and children.
-
7/29/2019 105 Hridi Research
15/17
Family and Societal Influences on Decision Making 15
So after my findings, I founded something different than my hypothesis. I thought family and
societal influences are always there in our country. But after doing research on this, I found that
situation is changing in some matters. So now I dont agree with all of the articles andjournals
that I read.
CONCLUSION
Bangladesh is a conservative country. There are many societal limitations which results as
family limitations by time. In the past, people were used to with the fact that they have to listen
to their family on each and every matter. No matter what, they cannot go against their family or
the society. But day by day, this concept is changing. People are becoming more independent
now. Though they still face many influences in their lives, but in some issues, they dont want to
comply with what others are saying. And this change has brought a positive effect in our society.
And the new trend is saying that family and societal influence must be there - but not in every
single cases. Because end of the day, every individual has the right to take the decisions
regarding his/her own life.
-
7/29/2019 105 Hridi Research
16/17
Family and Societal Influences on Decision Making 16
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Allwood,C.M., & Selart, M. (2001).Decision Making: Social and Creative Dimensions.
Retrieved December 8, 2010 from http://books.google.com/books?id=i5MyodTYe1MC
&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
This book talks about the social dimensions of decision making. It also discusses decision
making from different perspectives.
Yuvrani, R. (2004, July 04). Family Influence and Decision Making. Retrieved December 8,
2010
from http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/family-influences-decision-making-
family-decisionmaking-1014177.html
This article describes family influence on individual decision making and sociological variable
affecting those decisions.
Dietrich, C. (2010, February 23). Decision Making: Factors that Influence Decision Making,
Heuristics Used, and Decision Outcomes. Retrieved December 8, 2010 from
http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/180/decision-making-factors-that-influence-decision-
making-heuristics-used-and-decision-outcomes
-
7/29/2019 105 Hridi Research
17/17
Family and Societal Influences on Decision Making 17
This article depicts the factors that influence the decision making process. It also talks about the
final outcomes and different issues regarding decision making.
Spenzzano, G. (2010, April 7). Can Parents Influence Their Childs Career Choice. Retrieved
December 8, 2010 from http://www.familyanatomy.com/2010/04/07/can-parents-influence-
their-childs-career-choice/
This article talks about parents perception of influencing their childs decision regarding career
choice. It discusses the opinion of parents on this issue.
Michigan State University (2010, February 21). Parents Still Major Influence on Childs
Decision to Pursue Science Careers. Science Daily. Retrieved December 8, 2010 from
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100220204814.htm
This article shows that parental influence and access to science courses are likely to guide
students to careers in science. In this way, parents are influencing childrens career choice.
Khan, M. A. (2004, March 9). Arranged Marriages: A Different Perspectice. Star Lifestyle. P. 4
This article talks about arranged marriages in our society. It also discusses the forcing of women
into arranged marriages.